A Word From Your Local Election Winners!!

Here’s a statement to the community from your re-elected Members for Warringah and Mackellar from the May 3, 2025 election.

Dr Sophie Scamps has been re-elected as the Independent Member for Mackellar

Dr Sophie is an Australian independent politician, general practitioner, and former World Champion runner. In 2020, Dr Sophie became involved in politics, co-founding the “Voices of Mackellar” group, and was chosen as the independent candidate for Mackellar. At the 2022 federal election, she was elected with 52.5% of the after-preferences vote after a campaign that focused on climate change, integrity, and respect for women.

She says on her website, “I have lived and worked here on the Northern Beaches for 25 years and before becoming your Independent MP, I served the community as a doctor in the Emergency Department of Mona Vale Hospital and practiced as a GP in Narrabeen. As an Independent MP for Mackellar I am standing up for our community in Parliament and pushing for action on the issues that you care about with honesty and integrity.”

Dr Sophie has just been re-elected as the MP for Mackellar in the May 3, 2025 election.

We contacted Dr Sophie after her convincing win and she had this message to pass on:

“I feel incredibly honoured that the people of Mackellar have put their trust in me to represent our community for another three years and my team and I will do so to the absolute best of our ability. I feel strongly that this role is one of service and I will continue to stand up strongly for the views, values and needs of our community as well as for the wellbeing and prosperity of the nation at large.

I will continue to fight hard on local issues such as making our hospital public again, greater investment in our major roads, and more support for small business. There are simply too many empty shop fronts across our electorate. I will also fight for a fairer future for our younger generations, including action to protect our environment and climate – we do not want sea walls up and down the Beaches. On the housing front, too many young families, key workers and locals are having to move out of our community, breaking up families and networks.

I think this election showed that communities want people who genuinely listen to them and work hard for their needs. I will continue to work constructively towards commonsense, practical solutions to the issues that are important to our community.”

If you’d like a recap of what Dr Sophie stands for and her ties to the community, she shared the following with us just prior to the Election: 

As an Independent I don’t have to toe a party line, so I am free to always put the people of Mackellar first. For too long the people of Mackellar were ignored and taken for granted as a safe seat – that changed when Mackellar voted for a genuine Independent last election. Since then I’ve been working hard for our community and standing up for the issues that are important to us – including cost of living relief measures, fighting to make our hospital public again, greater support for small business, getting federal funding for our roads, pushing for more affordable housing on the Beaches so young families and key workers can stay here, and also protecting our local environment by ending the licence to drill for oil and gas off our coastline. If it matters to the people of Mackellar, it matters to me. I fight for constructive solutions, not just for the sake of it.

What is your connection to the​ Mackellar area and tell us three places in the electorate that you love.

I’ve called Mackellar home for the last 25 years. My husband and I have raised our 3 kids here and they’ve all attended local schools. We’ve stood on the sidelines of kids’ sport matches all across Mackellar and chatted to parents, and we’ve shopped locally for decades. My family is a genuine part of this community. We live and breathe it. I’ve also worked locally as a doctor for 20 years, firstly in Mona Vale Hospital with the geriatrics team then as an emergency doctor. I then worked for many years as a GP with Narrabeen Family Medical Practice – which gave me an even deeper understanding of local people, their needs and values. In terms of the places I love in Mackellar – well Mackellar has got to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet so it’s hard to choose. I love the bushwalks in Duffy’s Forest and West Head and the connection with our indigenous history. I’ve loved boating on Pittwater and exploring the coves and of course our beaches are unbeatable. Taylor’s Point was always a haven when I had young kids and I love the tranquility, beauty and proximity of Angophora Reserve.

What do you see as the key issues?

Australians are really feeling cost-of-living pain. Between rising interest rates, rents and energy bills; inflation and wage stagnation, people across the country including in Mackellar are struggling. I have pushed and voted for many different cost of living measures including cheaper childcare and medicines, making it cheaper to see your GP and energy bill relief. Housing affordability is also a huge issue this election. Even today when I was out and about speaking with locals – I met with several young families who had made the decision to move out of our area because, with a growing young family, they cannot afford to live here anymore. It is devastating to lose so many of our community members and key workers in this way and must be addressed with long term housing solutions. Unlike the Coalition, I voted in favour of all 3 of the bills to increase housing supply and affordability this term and will keep pushing for more. It is also disturbing to see empty shop fronts in shopping strips across the electorate. That’s why I have been calling strongly for far more support for small business including a $20,000 tax-free threshold for them, and a residential battery subsidy which would go a long way to easing energy prices as cheap electricity will be discharged back to the grid during the evening peaks The people of Mackellar also care deeply about our beautiful environment – our beaches, waterways, and bush and parklands. We don’t want to see sea walls up and down our coastline or gas rigs off our shores. Instead we want real action to halt and reverse environmental destruction, species extinction and climate change.

If you were to introduce one bill to bring before parliament, what would it be?

So many of the converging crises we’re facing right now – the climate catastrophe, the housing crisis, mental ill health epidemic, and the destruction of our environment– have been decades in the making, and are the result of short term decision-making and policies that have failed to address them. What we need is long term solutions, not short term Bandaid fixes. And so, in February I introduced a bill called the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill. The Bill calls for 2 main things – a national conversation to create a vision for our nation – what type of country we want to hand down to our children. And secondly, it would embed a framework for collaborative, long term policy making in Australia. This Bill is based on the experience of Wales, and other countries, where a similar Act has been law since 2015. https://www.gov.wales/well-being-of-future-generations-wales If passed, my Bill would ensure integrated decision making, so that politicians, public bodies and departments work together to find solutions rather, than as often happens, at odds with each other. The Bill is based on the principal that the needs of the present generation should be met without compromising the capacity of future generations to meet their needs. This bill would help end the short termism that is the root cause of so many of the current problems we face. https://www.sophiescamps.com.au/future_generations_bill_2025

How can the people of Mackellar contact you and stay in touch with your campaign?  Please include your website and social accounts if applicable.

Zali Steggall OAM has been re-elected as the Independent Member for Warringah.

Zali Steggall OAM is an Australian politician, lawyer and former Winter Olympic athlete. She has been the independent member for Warringah since the 2019 Australian federal election when she defeated the incumbent, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. She won the seat again in 2022 and now she’s been re-elected in another comprehensive victory in the May 3, 2025 Election.

 

We contacted Zali after her weekend victory, and she had the following message to pass on:

“I want to say thank you to the Warringah Community for again putting their trust in me and also to the amazing 1,600 volunteers who have created this amazing campaign. This election has shown a clear rejection of adversarial populist politics and negative, regressive policies by the nation. Since 2019, Warringah has led the way with positive politics, focusing on policies that will take Warringah and Australia forward.

“My team and I are now getting back to our core work of supporting the local community and addressing important challenges – including cost of living, housing solutions and mitigating climate risks. I’ll also continue to stand up for small businesses, sensible economic policy and pushing for greater political accountability and integrity.”

If you’d like a recap of what Zali stands for and her ties to the community, she shared the following with us just prior to the Election: 

“As a local, Olympic medallist and former barrister I’ve worked passionately since 2019 to represent the views and values of Warringah in Parliament, and have a positive impact by delivering smart, practical solutions to key challenges faced by our community — from cost of living and housing pressures to climate risks and small business support.

As an Independent MP, I’m focussed on hearing from and serving our community on issues from NDIS, Centrelink to immigration and aged care, always focussing on people and good policy. This includes helping to secure more than $300 million in local grants, responding to over 41,000 inquiries, stopping oil and gas exploration off our coast and improving legislation with amendments, including on scams, job security and affordable education. I’m committed to achieving results for our community.

I’m committed to accountability and integrity, will champion support to keep business strong and communities safe – and I will always make sure Warringah’s views and values are heard loud and clear in Canberra.

What is your connection to the​ Warringah area and tell us three places in the electorate that you love.

I have a long connection with Warringah, for example, I was born in Manly Hospital, attended Queenwood School in Mosman and have live with my family in North Balgowlah. My children have attended schools in the Northern Beaches, Mosman and North Sydney.

Three places I love in Warringah are:

• Manly Dam for trail running – it’s such a great place to get out into nature
• Balmoral Beach – such a beautiful spot for families to enjoy the beach or a picnic
• The North Sydney CBD – so many great places to eat and drink and undergoing a real revival and who doesn’t love the Metro!

One of the most important things I can do as an independent MP is listen to the community. My team and I have conducted surveys, been out and about in the new areas of Warringah and also held formal listening events – such as a community forum in Crows Nest and a Politics in the Pub at the Oaks to hear concerns directly.

While the North Sydney CBD was not previously part of the Electorate, Warringah was already home to a number of suburbs in the North Sydney Council Local Government Area so I have a good professional relationship with the Mayor and Council and since the boundary changes my team and I have been attending a number of the council’s precinct meetings to understand the challenges and opportunities impacting local residents.

Now more than ever, it is essential that we have housing opportunities and transport solutions that meet our needs, support for small businesses and households feeling the pressure of increasing costs and strong policies to transition to a low cost, low emissions, innovation driven economy.

We need to incentivise electrification to reduce power bills, simplify taxes for small businesses, and provide more accessible and efficient housing options so people can afford to live and work in the area they love.

Warringah is among the top two NSW electorates expected to be hardest hit by worsening climate risks and escalating insurance costs.  Whilst focussed on costs of living, we must also address climate change or all costs of living will get even worse. We must strive for a minimum 75% emissions reduction target by 2035 and implement my comprehensive Climate resilience plan to protect our community and keep insurance affordable. For this, we need a legislated National Adaptation Framework, a $10 billion Climate Resilience Fund to deliver resilient infrastructure and an expanded Resilient Building Council.

If you were to introduce one bill to bring before parliament, what would it be?

In the last term of parliament, I introduced a Voter Protections Bill to stop the lies in political advertising – and I will continue to push the government to legislate truth in political advertising. This term, I plan to introduce the National Framework for Climate Adaptation – which aims to ensure that future governments regularly asses emerging climate risks and make informed, long term plans to safeguard our communities against climate risks.

You can read my exposure draft for that Bill here: National Climate Adaptation Framework – Zali Steggall

How can the people of Warringah contact you.

My friendly team are here to help, and we love to hear from the Warringah Community.  You can get in touch in a number of ways:

• Contact my electorate office on 9977 6411 or email Zali.Steggall.MP@aph.gov.au
• Drop into the Mosman Community Hub (currently open Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and Sat 10am-2pm)

To stay in touch, you can sign-up to my e-newsletter at: Zalisteggall.com.au or follow me on social media at:

Instagram : @zalisteggall
Facebook: @zalisteggallmp
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